Horace King

Horace King (1807-1885) was the most respected African American architect and engineer of his time. Born enslaved on a South Carolina plantation and freed in 1846, Horace King was the most sought-after bridge builder in the South during the nineteenth century.

Best known for designing bridges in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi, King built the Red Oak Covered Bridge in Woodbury, Georgia (1840s), which landed on our 2022 list of Places in Peril, and the first Dillingham Street Bridge (1830s) connecting Columbus, Georgia and Phenix City, Alabama. King also designed courthouses, warehouses and houses including the Old Russell County Courthouse in Alabama (1839-41), the grand floating staircase in the Alabama State Capitol (1850-51), and the Bridge House in Albany, Georgia (1858).

He went on to become a member of the Alabama House of Representatives from 1868 to 1872. In 1872, King and his family moved to LaGrange, Georgia, where he and his sons continued to build bridges, stores, houses and college buildings until Horace's death on May 28, 1885. Lengthy obituaries praising his building skills appeared in white-owned Atlanta, LaGrange and Columbus newspapers.

The Georgia Trust For Historic Preservation

#oldhouse #oldhouselove #architecture #house #photography #oldhouses #abandoned #home #ig #renovation #old #nature #oldhousecharm #vintage #architecturephotography #historicpreservation #travel #oldhome #history #oldbuilding #houses #interiordesign #photooftheday #interior #restoration #historic #preservation #victorianhouse #blackhistorymonth #dvfpreservationnation